Flamecatcher
by Mirror Contagion
Summary: A lonesome, reticent Mokou lives deep in the Bamboo forest, far away from anyone she could ever grow affectionate towards. But the brightness and warmth of an open flame draws things to itself... And if they aren't careful, it isn't hard for them to burn away. Contains Mokou X Keine.
1. Immortal Smoke (Prologue)

Long, long ago, I remember my father telling me how out of all my brothers and sisters, I was by far the most stubborn. Whether it came to playing, working, studying, whatever you could name, they all seemed to have some variable point where they would simply give in and move on with their lives. But me? No, not even close. I'd just keep trying and trying and trying until I either got whatever it was down-pat or someone dragged me away kicking and screaming from whatever it was.

In retrospect, it's funny how things turn out I suppose. Here I was now, in my one-thousandth-four-hundred year alive. And here I was, doing the exact same thing I'd been doing for centuries stubbornly even though I knew it would never get me anywhere. I was straddling the stomach of a beautiful woman in a regal pinki kimono, half-hunched forward and out of breath. My knuckles were scratched and bruised from crashing against her face and chest so many times that it felt like my arms were on the verge of popping out of their sockets. Blood and sweat were pouring down my face, leaving my shirt (itself half-unbuttoned and torn in a few spots) an absolute mess.

"A...Are we f..finished then, Mokou?" She asked beneath me. I stared down at her; she was in even worse shape than me. I'd broken her nose, and she was sporting a rather vicious black eye. Her lovely, milky-skinned face was nicked all over from my blows and that long black hair of hers was tangled and ruined. Of course, I knew, in a few days all those injuries would be gone, just as mine would be. And the next time we met, I'd bring them back. Or she'd bring them to me. That was how it always was with Kaguya Houraisan; I don't think I'd ever had a meeting with her that didn't end with one of us beating the stuffing out of the other.

"Yeah. This time, I think." I muttered quietly, half out of breath. I slid off of her, standing shakily and wiping a sleeve across my forehead. She sat up not long after, gently dusting off her midsection where I'd been sitting. As if that damned kimono could be saved with all of those stains on it now. I chuckled and shook my head. Always keeping up appearances...

"Do you think... We're going to do this forever?"

Her question caught me off guard. I looked over at the object of my hatred with tired eyes, only to find her scarcely paying attention to me; Kaguya was staring up at the moon with an expression that I couldn't quite place beyond a general sadness. It hung above us like a ghastly, ever-watching face and oftentimes I loathed to look up at it. It reminded me of her.

"Probably." I answered without much hesitation, still. I felt like that was the honest way to take things even though I had no real ideas where that question had suddenly come from. What was it even supposed to mean? Of course we would. We always would. We always have. I hate her, and I could only assume that she, too, hated me. Though it always seemed that in moments like these, after our conflicts, our differences were torn down. Only once we were bloody and ragged were we allowed to speak to one another.

"I suppose I'll have to put up with it then." she said in a good-humored voice. She rose up one sleeve in front of her face as she laughed. Inadvertently, this covered up the broken nose and the blood trickling out of it along her lips. Good for her; that didn't look very princess-like.

"Whatever. I'm going home. Next time I see you, I'll kill you all the way." I growled. Shakily, I began to make my way back towards my house. I could feel her eyes on my back, watching me as I swaggered in a totally unsteady gate through the bamboo plants away from the clearing.

"Not if I get you first next time. But... if we're really going to do this forever, I suppose that we'll have lots of time to get even with each other."

My name is Mokou Fujiwara. I am a human, and yet I have lived for so very long. Every time I die, my body is engulfed in the purifying flames of the phoenix and again and again I am called to continue to walk this Earth. It can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the day. And yet, I know that in the end, I have absolutely no one to blame but myself, and I could never ask for anyone in this world to shoulder the burder that I'll carry until beyond the end of time.

The thing is, I don't always have a say in the matter. This is a story of one of those times.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this short little prologue to something (hopefully) greater. I've been wanting to write this story for a good while now and I figured it was a good time to stop holding back and go ahead and embark on this little journey. Expect more chapters in the coming days.<strong>

**To those looking forward to more Fragile Wonderland, don't worry; I'm still hard at work on the next chapter. I'm not going to give up on that story; still, I've always found variety has helped me write a little bit better so I don't see harm in running two simultaneous fics. At least, not yet!**

**Thanks for reading. As always, criticism is welcome.**


	2. Open Flame

In some ways, things only exist when you stop and take notice of them. Sure, they're there regardless, but if you don't know something exists then it might as well _not, _right? It goes its own way, and you go your own, merrily along through different planes of existence. Blissful ignorance.

When you're ageless and deathless, I find it best to approach things from that perspective. Even better, not at all. Because, when you stumble up on things with reckless abandon... When you let your guard down, I mean... It starts to rapidly become obvious how thoroughly you're outlasting things. Places that you used to love to go to will begin to look more and more different. People that you care about vanish one by one. Days just seem to get shorter and shorter and shorter and there you are in the midst of it all, onset by constant and unavoidable grief.

It's like you're an open flame; Alone you burn and burn dauntlessly, but you can't let anything get too close because they'll get set ablaze too. Unlike you, though, in the end, all that's left of _them_ is ash. And you'll get sick and tired of wading through ashes pretty damned fast.

I don't know exactly what had brought my mind to such matters that morning, the sun shimmering in a penetrating column through the window of my bedroom. I'd awoken feeling so sore that part of me just wanted to go back to sleep. Yet, at the same time, I'd managed to catch a glimpse down at myself; I was a total mess. Blood and dirt were matting my white button-up that I hadn't even bothered to take off after stumbling in late last night. My pants, too, red and baggy and covered with anti-fire seals, were now sporting a nasty hole at one knee. I could only imagine how my face and hair looked as well. Thanks to the powers of the Hourai elixir, superficial wounds, aches and sores would easily heal given time, but it wasn't going to not make me look like I'd just dragged myself out of a war zone.

I groaned, sitting up very slowly. Well...there was no helping it, was there? I had to clean myself, as much of a pain as it was. One of my hands instinctively reached into my pocket and unearthed the cigarettes that I'd bought last time I headed into the human village. Surprisingly they were still there, but unsurprisingly, they'd been totally crushed. I must have rolled over them in my sleep. That, or the pack had just gotten smashed during my fight with Kaguya. Shit.

It was not shaping up to be a particularly good day for me.

* * *

><p>The walk to the nearby river wasn't a long one, but just about anyone other than me that had attempted it would have found a way to get lost. That was just one of the several reasons that the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was the perfect place for me to live; it was almost impossible to navigate by someone who hadn't spent years and years within. For the most part it was an enormous, labyrinthine structure which seemed to sprawl infinitely in all directions in an almost uniform manner. Rows and rows of rows and bamboo as far as the eye could see, and one could nary differentiate one acre from the next.<p>

But I'd dwelt there for years and years at this point. The most minor of landmarks had become things that stood out naturally to me, and with this river being the place where I bathed (and got my water from in general further upstream) I was at the point where I could more or less figure out how to get to it by just instinctively heading in a certain direction.

The only other place that was really worthy of note in this place was Eintei, a massive manor deep in the heart of the bamboo where Kaguya and her entourage lived. I avoided that place like the plague when I could, though, unless I had to go give the princess a piece of my mind or something. It wasn't like they hated me or anything, either... Quite the opposite, other than Kaguya, they were weirdly friendly. She had several dozen youkai rabbit vassals and I'm pretty sure that they are just happy to play with whoever they can, given the chance. But still, that wasn't the point; it was a matter of principle. That, and I didn't want to risk the chance of seeing her stupid face.

When I got to the river, though, I realized upon seeing my reflection that a far worse fate would be Kaguya seeing _mine, _because I'd never hear the end of it_._ Standing with my hands in my pockets on the bank and leaning in over the water, I found my visage a poor addition to the crystalline surface. Worse than looking like I'd just crawled out of a battlefield, I was closer to a zombie that crawled out of a grave. Red and black streaks filled my long white hair (The gods sure have a sense of humor. Why did nothing age but my hair color?), and my face was smudged with dried blood and who knows what else. A ragged scratch ran down across my cheek, starting just below one of my eyes; Kaguya's fingernails I suppose? The wound looked a few days old, though, as opposed to totally fresh; by tomorrow, they'd probably be gone.

"_Unless I run into her again."_ I thought quietly to myself. But that couldn't be helped; Kaguya and I were like cats and dogs. And while my predicament was a fault of my own, there was no one to blame for our distaste of one another except for her. Either way, whatever future might have come, the present was now. And it was also very, very dirty.

I left my clothes by the riverbank with the plan of washing them after I was done, wading out in the water with my hands around my chest. It had the chill of Autumn to it, and it was making me miss summer already. It'd been slow to set in but now it was here, and by the time winter rolled around I'd have to start using my fire powers to heat up the water before I entered to avoid freezing myself. For now, though, it was tolerable. Taking a deep breath, I dunked my head beneath the surface.

Living out here wasn't so bad, I thought as I grinded my fingertips through my hair and tried to get the filth out. Why would it be when you hardly had a care in the world? Before I came to Gensokyo, I was constantly moving around. In the outside world, people like me were just about the furthest thing from normal imaginable. If I stayed in one place too long that meant that people would begin to take notice that something was off about the way I aged. Namely, not at all. That meant that people would assume I was some sort of youkai; the first time I ever died and was reborn, I was stoned to death in a village square because they thought I was an evil witch. When they saw my body rebuild itself in an explosion of flame before their eyes, they changed their whole tune and started to think I was some sort of god. Naturally I ran. What god would bless a group of people that'd execute a kid anyway?

You couldn't make friends like that, even if you keep yourself inconspicuous on a smaller scale. Sure, it worked in the short term but they eventually started to notice that they were getting old and you were getting young. Then the questions... And then the disbelief... And then the fear. It was during those days in the outside world that it was really driven home to me that I didn't need people. I learned to move on without them and survive with the bare minimum of interacting with them when I had to at all.

Gensokyo, though, was different. It was full of youkai, mysteriously-powered humans, and all sorts of other things that had existed as nothing but legends even when I was younger. I fit right in; and as a result, I was able to get by without much of a fuss. No one cared when I stopped by the sole human village every now and then. Why would they? Just another weirdo that needed their weekly bag of rice or fruit.

The truth was, I was enamored with this place that had let me live such a peaceful life ever since I arrived. Some might have called it empty or useless, but I considered it simply free of commotion. Or, at least it was, until...

"Um.. Miss?"

A small voice called out to me from the riverbank that I'd left my belongings on, causing me to whirl around in the water. My fingers were still dug in to my long hair but my formerly-blissful expression had faded into one of annoyance. At least, at first, but it quickly gave way to shock. I was fully expecting to see one of Kaguya's little fluffy bunny pets pestering me until I was totally caught off guard at the truth of the matter.

Gazing out at me was a small human girl. She had scraggly, unkempt black hair that hung down over one of her eyes, though the one that I could see was a sort of chestnut brown color. She was wearing a plain linen kimono and no shoes; not really anything unusual for a lower-class kid from the village. I'd never seen her before, but that was not why I was surprised; I was terrible with faces, probably just from avoiding looking at any for so long.

No, I was taken aback more by the fact that she was _here. _This was fairly deep in the Bamboo Forest, and this kid had somehow managed to not only find her way to me, but also apparently had done it alone if the lack of parent accompanying her was any indication. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd seen someone other than a youkai roaming around this place.

"U-Um, excuse me..." the girl finally said. She looked a little bit less than comfortable with speaking to me. All at once I realized I must have looked absurd; I'd been staring at her intently ever since she had made her presence known and from experience, me looking intent usually seems to look like I'm about to smash you to pieces. I was blessed, and cursed I suppose, with rather sharp eyes that had caused quite a few misconceptions in the past.

"Y..Yeah..?" I answered back, trying to at least sound somewhat more laid back. I came off sounding more like a dope than anything. Why was I speaking like I was as scared as she looked?

"Are...Are you... Are you a kappa?!" she finally spit out all at once, putting her arms up like they would somehow shield her from my answer. If I'd have been drinking something at the moment, I'd probably have spit it everywhere there.

"What the hell are you talking about?! Do I look like a kappa?" A _kappa?! _Was she making fun of me or something?! Just like that, I lost my temper, little girl or no. I could actually feel the water around me begin to simmer and heat up, my body temperature rising naturally with my own anger.

"I-It's just... Teacher told us that kappa were monsters that lived in the river, so I thought..."

"Oh, it's 'monster' now? Geeze kid, you really know how to piss someone off!" I grunted as I pushed some of my soaking wet hair out of my face. I really needed to cut it; it was spilling all the way down to my back now. Another thing I really should have done? Stop arguing with preteens. I did manage to catch myself with a huff, crossing my arms and starting to come out of the water, "No. No, I'm human. And from the looks of it so are you, so what are you doing all the way out here? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

"Me? Oh! I, um... Teacher was taking me through the forest to see a doctor." the small girl explained. She must have meant Eintei. In that place, there was a doctor who attended to Kaguya that came from the same place as princess did. It was said she could treat or cure almost any illness. But I'd never heard of her taking human patients before, "But we got lost. She said she was going to go on ahead and look around, but she was taking a _reeeeally _long time, so I got bored and..."

"And you wandered off all by yourself? Stupid." I grumbled, beginning to put back on my clothes. The little girl laughed despite the insult; maybe she thought it was funny that I was putting on such dirty clothes after getting out of the water. They were still swamped with blood and dirt, and although I got the majority of it off my skin and body, I was still scratched and banged up pretty heavily. Not to mention I was still pretty wet and they were clinging to my form uncomfortably. In short, I looked like hell. Still, I just decided to shrug it off, "Though I'm more worried about that teacher of yours. Just leaving you by yourself?"

"Teacher's _really _strong... Especially when the moon's full! She helps protect the village." the girl was quick to defend whoever this lady was against my words. I didn't really know enough to contradict her; I only went into the village to shop. So I figured I'd let it rest at that. It suddenly hit me that this kid was a bit of a social butterfly. She was opening up to me, a total stranger, without issue already.

"Well, whatever. Come on kid, let's find your teacher and get the both of you out of here. Follow me and stay close." I motioned. To my surprise, however, the motion ended with the girl grabbing my hand and holding on tightly to it. Apparently she'd taken "stay close" a little bit too literally. But...

"Okay!" she chirped, looking up at me happily, looking up at me with bright eyes. She'd gone from calling me a river monster (for the sake of any Kappa reading this, I will admit that they aren't very monstrous to be absolutely fair. They did wear funny hats though) to trusting me utterly like this. I grit my teeth... And somehow couldn't muster the irate demand for her to let go of me. Instead, I just began to lead her through the forest. As much as I hated to get involved with people, I couldn't in good conscience leave this kid to wander around and probably get eaten.

The faster I could do this, the faster I could return to my peaceful life. I could wash my clothes, and get to the village to buy some more smokes. Yeah, that was the end goal of all of this: a return to blissful peace and quiet.

* * *

><p>"What's your name, lady?"<p>

One question after another was asked on the way there. It was enough to drive a saint crazy, let alone someone with my (admittedly) short temper. Where are we? Is this the right way? How much further? Can I ear this? It's amazing she took so long to get to this question of all things. Still, I'd entered this situation willingly of my own accord in this little attempt to be a good samaritan, and there was no turning back now.

"Mokou. Mokou Fujiwara." I said, not sparing the girl a glance as we trudged between the bamboo on our way towards Eintei. I figured my priority had to be this girl, and getting her to the mansion for whatever they were going to need to do with her was a better move than wandering around the forest with her in tow, looking for her teacher. I'd just drop her off there and scope out wherever the other poor little lost soul went and be done with it. In retrospect, I should have noticed that I was already adding more stops to my little journey subconsciously.

"My name's Tomoe! It's nice to meet you!" the girl happily responded, regardless of whether I asked for her identity or not. I didn't really plan to either. Why should I care? As soon as I took care of all of this, I was never going to see this kid again. I couldn't bring myself to lie about it being nice to meet her either, and ended up giving a noncommittal nod in response. Actually, come to think of it, something was still bugging me.

Against my better judgment, I spoke my mind: "Why are you going to Eintei anyway? Those stuffy moon people avoid humans like the plague, why are they making an exception for you?"

Upon hearing "moon people," Tomoe made a face of perplexion that told me at least part of the story; she must not have known a whole lot about the place she was going to. Still, she did at least try to reason it out: "Teacher said that if anyone could help me, it'd be them."

"Seriously...?" I frowned. That didn't sound good; what could have been so vital that a doctor in the village couldn't take care of it? And this girl seemed perfectly healthy too. Either way, I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it as we were suddenly interrupted.

"TOMOE!" came a terse shout from a ways away in the forest; it sounded less angry and more full of panic, but it did actively make me cringe. I wasn't the best with loud noises and they made me feel skittish and on edge. Nevertheless, I wasn't stupid enough to assume a combat pose. Logic would lend that the identity of the one that was currently barreling towards us was...

"Teacher!" Tomoe cheered happily, taking a step or two forward and waving her arm. Her other was still clasping at my fingers to my annoyance. In fact, now that this lady was showing her face I had full intention to give her a piece of my mind. This whole sidetrack had been bothersome, and I wasn't going to let it go without _some _sort of retribution. It didn't matter how petty it had to be either.

"Hey, lady, we're over here! I've got a few things to say to you about taking care of kids!"

When the figure cleared the brush just ahead, I had been fully-ready to give her a great big mouthful of scolding and abuse, but, well... It just didn't come out when I saw her. Stepping out in front of me was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-20s... Just about the same as what I was stuck as physically. She was wearing an extremely elaborate blue dress with a beautiful web-like pattern that revealed lacy white fabric beneath. On her breast was tied a thick red ribbon fasted to her collar. Her face... There was something naturally kind about it, small and a little round, but seeming to possess some kind of odd wisdom about it that I suppose was quite fitting for a teacher.

What really pulled me away I think, as odd as it is to think about now, was her hair. It reminded me of my own. It was slightly shorter than mine, but it had that same gray-silver color with the addition of streaks of an icy blue color running through them. It was absolutely gorgeous; it looked so well-kept, glinting in the sunlight from above. She must have washed it daily with all the fixings. And here I was, just trying to keep the grimier things out of mine in a riverbed. Not to mention it was currently messy and frazzled and soaked from having to get out too soon.

"Tomoe! I was so worried! How could you have just wondered off like that, you could have been hurt or..." Tomoe had broken away from me, running to her teacher's waiting arms that wrapped around her, stroking the young girl's hair. I just sort of let it happen, wordless and akward, standing stole still in the same spot.

But wait, why the hell was I suddenly so fixated on this woman? Had how pretty she was _really _taken away all the fire from me? And furthermore, why the hell did I care? I must have been staring something fierce because she'd actually finally taken notice of me.

"Oh, um.. Excuse me. You found Tomoko..?" Her voice was sweet and kind, but oh geeze, _there _it was. Her face twisted into an expression of both alarm and discomfort as she finally took notice of what I looked like. Clothes torn and dirty and soaking wet, hair like the world's longest, finest-woven mophead. I had stayed away from other people for so long, but that look... You don't forget that look. Nor do you forget the feeling that it brings. I just wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and die. Of course, I'd just be reborn.

"Y...Yeah, I found her." I half-squeaked. Could I have possibly looked like any more of an ass right now? First I'd been bellowing at her as she'd come close, and now I was falling backwards into my shell and being all self-conscious. I plunged my hands in my pockets, averting her stare and instead opting to look off to the side.

"Right.. Um... Are you all right? You look like you've been hurt." She asked. That.. Took me off guard just a little bit. I _did _still look pretty banged up. But I was sure that for my sake she was leaving off how ridiculously filthy I was at the moment, "I'm looking for a manor that's said to be in this forest, with an impeccable doctor. Perhaps if you know where that is, we could get both you and Tomoe help..?"

"I know where the place is, but... I don't need help. Thanks for the offer. I can lead you there if you want?" I finally managed to look back up at the woman that I was talking to; the disgust and discomfort I had been expecting to see was absolutely gone. Instead, the silver-haired teacher was looking at me with something that I hadn't seen in centuries. Believe it or not, it was genuine concern, "H-Hey.. C'mon, really. I'm fine. Quit staring and just follow me."

I tried to take a left and initiate what would be a mostly silence-filled trip to Eintei. I didn't want to talk anymore. I didn't want to look at this lady; she was too nice. I didn't want to spend any more time with the little girl either for the same reason. Nice people always end up concerned, and concerned people always seem to end up getting attatched to you. That was the last thing I needed. But despite my efforts, I was stopped again by the woman's voice: "Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Keine Kamishirasawa."

I could have done a lot of things there. I could have ignored her and kept walking, I could have just brushed her off with an empty answer. I could have even told her to find the place her own-damned-self. It wasn't like I was expecting the Eintei Witch to see them. And yet for the second time today, I found myself answering her, although brusquely, "Mokou. Try to keep up."

Why? Why did I tell them my name? It wasn't just the teacher, but the girl as well. Why was I continuing to get involved with these people when I knew it could have lead to nothing good. What was possessing me today? And, worst of all, where was it going to end up leading me? At that time, I hoped and prayed, no further than Eintei.

How little I knew.


	3. The Witch of Eintei

Eintei was gorgeous, as much as I hated to admit it, in a rustic sort of way. It stood in the middle of a huge clearing around the center of the Bamboo Forest of the lost, Large wooden walls surrounding an old manor that made me feel like I lived in a dollhouse by comparison. Yet at the same time, I'd seen it plenty of times. I'd more or less gotten over the awe of how impressive it was in favor of a simple loathing. The two annoyances I was currently toting around, however, didn't have such a benefit.

"Is this the doctor's house, teacher?" Tomoe was peering inwards through the open front gates. I'd rarely seen them closed; why bother? Not enough things lived in the forest in the first place to worry about a full time guard or anything. And, of course, even if something _did _come, well... It wasn't like it was empty. Even from where I stood I could see them; small girls that looked to be no older than the one I had escorted, milling around in the courtyard, "Who are all those people...?"

"Rabbit youkai, duh. Look at their ears." I said from a short way back, hands still firmly thrust in my pockets. They all _did _have big, fluffy, floppy ears coming out of their head. When I said the word "youkai" the small girl actively gasped. Her teacher had a much less pronounced reaction, however. How much did this lady know about youkai anyway? Regardless, I didn't need to watch a scared kid cowering behind one of us on the way in, "Sheesh, relax. Have you ever heard of a rabbit hurting someone? Just because something is a youkai doesn't mean it's gotta be scary. At least, not in Gensokyo."

She made a little pouting face at being scolded that I might have found cute if I didn't want to get this over with so badly. I looked up Keine with a sour expression and an indignant huff. This was my "business" look. It was one that could normally split a crowd in half if I didn't feel much like weaving my way through them, "So? What are you waiting for? Get in there and talk to them. Though I have to warn you... As far as I know, that stuffy witch in there doesn't share her medicines with anyone."

I was expecting her to be meek.. Or maybe angry... Who knows? All I was trying to do was push this lady away from me. I'd been saddled unfairly with toting her around and now I just wanted her to stop. I didn't care about how difficult that might have been to do, but I wasn't going to be held back by how off guard I had been caught by her looks the last time. Now it was more just a constant feeling of inadequacy; walking next to someone that looked like that while in the state I was in was humiliating, even if you were in the middle of the woods while doing it.

But this woman, a plain old schoolteacher, handled obstinate, angry old me with grace like I'd never seen before. It was almost like she didn't notice me staring daggers at her! She _did, _I'm sure, but I might as well have been grinning at her and handing her flowers the way she responded to me. Without a bit of hesitation, Keine bowed; that silky silver-and-blue hair dipping forward for a moment and covering her face before she straightened her back once more and regarded me with a smile: "Miss Fujiwara... I can't thank you enough for leading us here. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't been with us. If there's anything I can do to repay you..."

No, no, _no. _What was with this lady? Could she really not do anything right? All she had to do was take the damned hint that I didn't want anything to do with her? Yet here she was apologizing for herself like this in such an earnest way that I actually felt my cheeks turning red. I bit my lip, looking over to the side and gave a response that made me want to punch myself: "Yeah, yeah. I still have to lead you back out. Don't get all excited yet." I managed to remain cold outwardly outside, but inside I wanted to just scream at myself for prolonging this experience even more out of embarrassment. I knew then and there that I had to entirely wash my hands of this situation as soon as possible.

Naturally, it was only just beginning. Our presence had begun to catch the attention of the busy rabbit youkai wandering around the courtyard grounds and one in particular had begun to move over to us. Most of the bunnies liked to dress in simplistic clothes (or maybe that's all they were given?) that didn't usually amount to anything more than plain little dresses. This one, who'd see as few times before, was different; she had some kind of weird blazer top and a short skirt, both of which looked neither cheap nor like anything you could really find in Gensokyo. Her hair was just about as long as mine, and her eyes were a rather stunning red.

Normally I saw her attached to the witch woman's hip, but today she was alone. Nevertheless, she had that same expression of fretfulness on her face as she always. Once she got within talking range, Keine actually took the initiative, she stopped, one hand on her hips... Looking at me rather than the people actually here to see her as she spoke, "Miss...? Um, the Princess isn't, um... Mistress told me not to let you see her right now. And, who are these people you've brought with you...?"

At the mention of "princess," Tomoe had the exact opposite reaction that she did to the mention of youkai. Her eyes lit up in a rather absurd fashion and I could see her mouth the word to herself, inaudibly. Nevertheless, I myself was a little annoyed. Yeah, sure, I never really came here unless I was in the mood to thrash Kaguya, but... Okay. I guess there wasn't a lot of reason to be annoyed. Before I could get around to correcting this presumptuous bunny, however, Keine cut in.

"Pardon me, miss... I've brought this girl here because I've been told that you have medicines far beyond those in the human village. Would it be all right if we visited your doctor?" She motioned to Tomoe, during her explanation, who seemed to have snapped back to reality as she shifted away from the rabbit youkai girl. Even with my earlier attempts to put her fears to rest, being around a youkai didn't appear to be something she wanted to do. I guess they taught their kids pretty thoroughly in that village.

"Medicines...? Ah, but, um... I'm afraid we don't..." This girl was stammering a lot and it was pissing me off. It was clearly that she wanted to tell these two to shove off as much as I did, but her eyes kept falling upon that little girl that was clearly cowering behind Keine's dress with a look of sympathy in them. She trailed off and fell back upon looking between both of them, clearly knowing the answer to the schoolteacher's inquiry but not wanting to just spit it out. Well, I guess I'd have to push her in the right direction.

"Look, why don't you just take her inside and get her to talk to the witch? What's the worst that could happen?" I grumbled. She looked up at me and made a face that very clearly spelled out "a lot," but she quickly shook her head.

"I.. I guess. Will you all follow me, please?" at last, she gave in, turning and making her way back into the courtyard. Keine shot me a little grin of thanks, to which I gave only a shrug, before she took Tomoe by the hand and began to follow. That just left me, and there was no way I was going to wait around out here. If you stood in sight of those other lazy rabbits long enough they'd eventually drop what they were doing and wander on up to you looking to play. I really wasn't in the mood for that.

But was I really in the mood for this either? As we walked up a short flight of stairs and through a pair of sliding doors in the front of the mansion, I pondered upon how I'd let myself get taken this far. I felt stupid, and profoundly so. This was valuable time that I could have been spending in peace and quiet. And yet here I was, wandering through this noisy hellhole full of scampering rabbit youkai! When was I finally going to put my foot down? Why hadn't I already?

* * *

><p>We turned a corner and began to head down a long hallway. To our left, the wall had a large section of itself cut out in the shape of what I could only assume was a crescent moon... I guess the Lunarians were feeling homesick or something. As the others hurried on past it, each clearly quite interested in resolving this situation in their own way as soon as possible, I glanced into the room on the other side momentarily before stopping still.<p>

Inside was a lavishly decorated sitting room, bright red walls with all manner of golden trim devoted to nothing more than a table and some floor cushions. But if that weren't enough to invoke my ire, its occupant was: Kaguya. Kaguya was sitting in there alone. It was the same sort of dignified posture you usually found her in; sitting with her knees below her at that table, kimono spilling out in all directions around her on the floor. It was a different one than the night before. It was different than the one from last night, that one having been bright red and this one more a subtle, simple pink. I felt a strange welling pride at the knowledge that I'd managed to ruin her clothes. Something so petty an inconvenience, even, was enough to make me smirk. When you're as old as me, you take what little victories you can get.

She turned her head to the side, not spotting me but giving me a good look at her. Quickly, I also found that I wasn't the only one worse for the wear this morning. She had a bandage set over one of the eyes that I'd been punching so hard that I'd managed to get it to swell shut, and the rest of it was riddled with scratches and bruises. More pride was piled upon that initial bit; even though it'd heal, I'd really left an impression on her during out last meeting. You might think me perverse or strange for reveling in how battered I'd left her, but rest assured, she deserved it. Nevertheless, I wasn't here for her. Seeing her so messed up was enough for me this time, at least. Besides, I didn't have a lot of grounds to taunt her when I myself looked pretty bad. I quickly picked up my pace and rejoined the others.

Our brief trip stopped just outside of a pair of round doors in a hallway somewhere in the eastern section of the building. Our long-eared guide stopped with one palm pressed tentatively to one of them, looking back at us with a great deal of unease, "I'll go in and ask, b-but, um... Be forewarned, the Mistress doesn't like to be bothered when she's in the middle of her studies."

She entered, and the door shut behind her. If you've ever found yourself sitting around a waiting room waiting to be seen by a physician, well, you know how the next few minutes went. Slow, uncomfortable silence punctuated by smalltalk was suddenly the order of the day. However, the reason behind it being social misgivings was only on my end. Keine looked more worried than anything, and Tomoe was just gazing around the room with the boredom only a child could harness to seem cute.

"Hey, hey, miss Mokou?" The small girl finally gave in to pestering me, tugging on one of my pants legs. She didn't even wait for me to give her permission to continue, "Do you think before I leave I could see the Princess?"

"I don't know if you'd want to right now." I said rather knowingly, and actually found myself wearing a smirk, "Or ever really. Princesses aren't all they're made out to be, kid. Take it from me."

She looked perplexed at this new bit of information. I looked over at Keine; she was staring at the door with a look of unease. I could tell that even though she'd put on such a diligent, doting face up until this point she was worried about whether or not the witch would see her. It was well-founded, too; I'd never known the Lunarians to give a damn about human issues at all. After all, that was why they lived out here, right? Besides, I still wasn't entirely sure what in the world was going on that necessitated even coming here.

"If they don't take her, what are you gonna do then?" I finally asked her. Just like the rabbit, it pissed me off to see people chewing on their thoughts inside of their head. The seemingly mind-mannered teacher blinked, her eyes going wide... And then she looked at me, suddenly quite serious.

"No doctor would turn away a dying child."

I was completely thrown off my game yet again, which seemed to be happening a lot today. The gravity of the situation suddenly became palpable as Keine went quiet, leaving me with my thoughts. I found myself staring down at at Tomoe; she was quite preoccupied with looking around her, still probably entertaining the thoughts of princesses, to the point where I don't think she actually heard what Keine said. Did she know? Even if she did, did she care? It was hard to tell in the mind of a child. I mean, she looked to be in perfect health. What could possibly be wrong with her?

Moreover, why did I care? I'd seen a lot of people die throughout my life time, after all. Far more than any normal human could possibly count. Mothers, fathers, children, babies in their crib. Death was a constant shade that followed me wherever I went and meshed together with people, and yet Life-in-Death always won me over the course of their little dice games. I thought I had gotten used to it by now. But... How long had it been since I'd even learned the name of someone new?

Was that all it took?

Abruptly, the door slid open and all three of us turned to face it. There she was; the Witch of Eintei. Or at least, that's what I'd called for her as long as I've known her. Her real name was Eirin Yagokoro, and like Kaguya, she was a Lunarian. From what I knew, she was some sort of genius doctor who was in the business of creating medicines. Great big fat lot good that that did anyone, though, considering I'm pretty sure all she did was use them to experiment on the local rabbits and never distributed them to anyone. It somehow managed to disgust me even a little bit more that she, the person hiding all this medicine far more advanced than the rest of what was in Gensokyo, was also ageless and immortal. She, I, and Kaguya made up the trio who had been stupid enough to partake of the Hourai Elixir. In fact, she was the one that made the damn thing. This was the witch that gave me the tools I needed to become the miserable creature I was now, inadvertently or no.

She was not a slight woman that blended into any crowd; Eirin would have stood out amongst just about any. She was stunningly tall, easily standing two heads over me much to my displeasure. She was clad in an odd red and blue dress patterned with images of constellations (how damned sappy could you possibly get? Stupid Lunarians), and her thick hair was dressed in a long single braid that looked so intricate that it made me think she had some sort of specialized craftsman that did it up for her every day or something.

Her eyes, a bizarre shade of gray, looked between all of us... Starting with Keine and then stopping on me. When she saw my grubby, stained clothing she smirked and, as I knew, was quite unable to resist the chance at taking a dig at me: "Udongein told me that I had a prospective patient out here. I hope it isn't you, Mokou? You look more in need of a good washbucket than a doctor."

"I don't need anything from you unless you've got some cigarettes." I murmured, thrusting my hands in my pocket and straightening my posture... Trying in vain to hide that big hole in the knee of my trousers.

"Ho ho. I'd never in good conscience be able to give you something so unhealthy... Though I suppose it wouldn't matter much in your case, would it?" the witch slowly turned away from me, apparently having got the mockery out of her system. I wanted to point out the shape I left her pretty little princess in, but odds are that was what was pissing her off in the first place. No need to exacerbate the situation... Especially with what Keine said earlier, "Now... As for you two. I am Doctor Yagokoro. Am I to assume you came all the way here in search for medical attention?"

Keine bowed respectfully to Eirin; far more respectfully than I liked, actually managing to illicit an involuntary _tch _from me before she spoke: "Doctor Yagokoro, my name is Keine Kamishirasawa. I'm a schoolteacher in the human village, and I-"

"Miss Kamishirasawa," she was almost immediately interrupted by her. Damn it, was that any way to treat anyone coming to you for help with _anything? _I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck prickling up already with anger, "Before you continue, I trust you are aware that there _are _doctors in the Human Village as well?"

"You stupi-!" I was fully prepared to just lay into her right then and there, but Keine was the one who cut me off. Her voice was extremely even despite obviously being talked down to. Was this the patience of a teacher?

"Yes. Unfortunately none of them are equipped to handle this problem. That's why I have come to you, Miss Yagokoro. This is a life or death matter, and I'm _begging _you to please help Tomoe."

She had bowed even deeper, to the point where I thought she was going to fall over. Eirin looked at her with her expression unchanged. She was very difficult to read beyond certain situations; usually I could more or less gather how someone was feeling at a glance, but the witch always seemed to be bizarrely calm and relaxed unless she was tormenting me. I knew Keine cutting me off was probably a good thing, too, because my temper was flaring up and that was going to get us nowhere regardless of how nice it would feel to verbally ream the woman.

In the middle of all of this was Tomoe... Who was now actually listening intently. This time I knew full well that she had heard Keine call it a "life or death" situation... And yet her disposition seemed unchanged. I didn't at all get it, and it make me frown deeply; she was old enough to get what the word "death" meant, right? And yet, she didn't seem the least big scared. She just kept watching, her messy hair still swept over one eye and a pleasant and polite smile on her face.

"...All right. Please step inside." Keine looked back up from her bow with a little gasp.. And then a happy smile. Eirin reciprocated it right back, but it felt so much more cold than her joy, "Now, now. Don't get _too _excited. I haven't made up my mind yet. But it wouldn't help to at least find out what's brought you all the way out here."

They entered, but I didn't. Why would I? They got their little doctor's visit... And already, me actually wanting them to get it after hearing about Tomoe's situation was going a little bit too far for my tastes. I just wanted to get out of here now. If Tomoe was staying here, I'd just take Keine back to the village and be done with it. What business of mine was finding out what was really wrong with the kid anyway? It'd only end badly, I assured myself

But the door didn't close behind them. That damned witch was staring at me expectantly. When I realized it, I met her eyes and scowled: "Do you need something? I'm gonna wait out here."

"No you're not. Come inside, Mokou." she responded to me with a chuckle that made my skin crawl a little bit.

"And why the hell should I do that? I just lead them here. Nothing else. I don't... I don't even care if you help them or not." The last part was a bad lie, and I probably made it obvious because once again she laughed softly. Didn't help that I wasn't able to keep eye contact when I said it.

"Because if I leave you out here you might wander off and start a fight with the princess. Or she might wander up and start a fight with you. Either way... I don't want to have it."

"I'm not gonna... Ugh. Whatever." My shoulders slumped. What was the point in arguing? She was just going to keep nagging me until I did it. With a hefty amount of annoyance, I finally relented and made my way into her office.


End file.
